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"Everyone has his own choking level, a level at which he fails to play his normal golf. As you get more experienced, your choking level rises." |
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 Age: 37 Current Handicap: 7 Lowest Handicap: 7 Has played golf for: 12 years Plays: Once or twice a month Practices: Occasionally The symptoms: I hit the ball pretty solid, but occasionally I get my feet out of alignment and I start knocking the ball all over the course. I play right-handed and tend to aim too far to the right. Sometimes I’m 100 yards off line. What can I do to improve my alignment? Dr. Golf’s prescription: We see this happen with most players regardless of ability. It usually begins early in a golfer’s career when we learn to aim to the target. Forgetting we need to aim the clubface to the target, we have the tendency to aim our body to it. Thus, if we think of standing on railroad tracks, our body line (the inside track) is at the target and the ball line (the outside track) is right of the target. In this case, sometimes drastically right. My recommendation is to examine your pre-shot routine. When you approach the golf ball, do so from directly behind and facing the intended target. As you step to the ball, have only your right hand on the grip and set the clubface behind the ball and facing the target. Now attach your left hand and align your body to the position you have set for the clubface. To check your body’s alignment, place a shaft along your heels, step away and hopefully the shaft is pointing left of your intended target. A note of caution: Once you begin to line up more squarely, some of your shots will start off left of the target because you have trained yourself to pull the ball back on line. Patient: Male Age: 54 Current Handicap: 12 Lowest Handicap: 9 Has played golf for: About 30 years Plays: About once a week Practices: Rarely The symptoms: I’ve been in a rut lately where I constantly feel like I’m in between clubs for approach shots. I can’t decide whether to hit the shorter club hard or the longer club easy. I usually end up hitting a bad shot. Do you have any suggestions for handling those shots where I am in between clubs? Dr. Golf’s prescription: I can relate to your frustration. I feel the most difficult shot to be successful with is a partial shot — trying to hit a longer club easier. And it’s always more difficult to put a little extra into a swing when we are typically swinging at full speed to begin with. My suggestion is to use the longer of the two clubs and swing full but with one adjustment: choke down on the grip by about an inch. This essentially makes the club shorter and the ball won’t travel nearly as far. Practice this on the range. Use a club you can swing full to hit the target green, then move your hands down and make full swings. Take note as to the average distance between the two shots. Usually, players will carry the ball 5 to 7 yards yards less using this procedure. Scott Arnold is a PGA professional at Canyon Crest Country Club. He can be reached at (951) 274-7906 or smarnold@pga.com. Patients in need of help from Dr. Golf should e-mail their ailments to scpgamedia@aol.com. |
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